In recent times, there has been a move away from companies managing individual elements of facilities management, to facilities management companies who are knowledgeable and take a more holistic approach to building management. The concept of Facilities Lifecycle Management (FLCM) is on the rise and more and more smart developers acknowledge that appointing the right FM consultant from building inception will make all the difference to the value of their asset.

The conjectFM team has adapted to this trend toward FLCM and is about to roll out a holistic FM solution to meet the specific needs of a new iconic project in Abu Dhabi.

The solution components combine the conject CAFM software package with both FM consultancy and also FM and Property Management services.

Using this model, a clear relationship is established between economic performance and quality tools. It can also minimise unforeseen capital expenditures and makes long term strategic planning more effective.

Projects supported by FLCM professional providers end up in investment cost savings up to 10% and operating costs savings up to 30%.

Within conjectFM, you can generate queries and tables with ease, witha  user friendly interface. These reports bring the required transparency into facilities management processes. It is a more well-designed and flexible method for analysing facilities management data, given by multi-dimensional data cubes. The integrated OLAP technology enables the user to switch a tabular report into a cube-view and apply mathematical functions (sum, average, count) to the data series. The relationship between the dimensions can be freely defined via drag and drop.

If the view delivers the distribution of areas by room usage in building the same cube can be used to visualise the distribution by cost centers or tenants. The possibilities and variations are nearly unlimited. In combination with business graphics dependencies and proportions that normally have to be analysed become visible and transparent with conjectFM.

One of the good things brought about by the current crisis on the construction industry is the palpable growth of Facilities Management. Specially with the ever growing number of buildings in the region, property developers realise that FM can soften the impact of the economic recession. This year's largest FM gathering in the region, FM Expo, served the perfect platform to address this subject.

conject was present during the 3-day event to offer the FM sector conjectFM, our flexible, high performance and easy-to-use software for Faclilites Management which can help you save millions of Dirhams.

conject exhibited alongside our partners, Berkeley, conducted a complimentary business networking lunch where we received numerous FM professionals for and participated in the conferences in parallel. The event brought in professionals from around the world including our strategic partners Hayat Group from Kuwait as well as future partners Omicron Online from South Africa.

For more information on conjectFM, click here or contact us for a demo!

“conjectCRM has to be the most effective real estate software application a property company could wish and plan for. Without it, we would not have been able to deliver a high level service to our clients, that not only delivers over and above but allows our staff the fliexibility in today's modern way of working.”
(Will Blake, Managing Partner & CEO - Elite Properties Oman)

Elite Properties started implementing conjectCRM in January 2009 after an easy and quick 2-week system configuration and customisation. Will Blake states, "having had prior experience and knowledge of the platform, i was amazed at out swift the implementation and key features available to deliver a robust and effective sales and marketing tool".

Will regards conjectCRM as an extremely user-friendly solution that encourage his employees to use "at all times". Regular usage of the system has bee achieved up to now and has generated "excellent feedback from everyone in the company and outside clients of Elite Properties who also see the benefits".

conjectCRM is considered to be the "heart" of Elite Properties' daily business. Will shares that the "company's operations revolve around conjectCRM ensuring that we utilise it as and whenever required for anything to with the comany's procedures and processes". Elite Properties now responds immediately to customer queries; this enables them to be "one step ahead of the competitors that in return give us a great reputation". Will and his team also relies on conject to ensure the highest standard of quality and "portray the company as a young, vibrant and a new leader in the real estate market".

With conjectCRM, Elite Properties deliver 100% transparency and accurate information to developers through the dashboards and reporting module, Will's favourite functionality; although as he admits "every module puts a huge smile on my face. conjectCRM gives me what I want at a push of a button", concludes Will Blake.

Know more about Elite Properties and Will Blake here.

"It is a completely new way of working in a project; everything at hand immediately. Everything completely traceable; and the setup of the software by conject was unbelievably fast. The system was available after the first workshop day. It feels like having moved from the record plater to the iPhone, with music, movies, telephone, email and web access..."
(Ton Beekman,Managing Director - Blue Lotus Hua Hin Co, Ltd.)

Project Duration: 2007-2012
Investment Volume: Over US$ 100 million
Project Area: 423,000 sq.m

Project Description: The Banyan Estate Hua Hin is a prestigious housing development in the royal resort town of Hua Hin, 200 kilometers south of Bangkok, one of Thailand's finests holiday destinations. The Banyan Estate comprises of the development of 85 investment houses, 167 villas and more than 200 condominiums and apratments.

Blue Lotus Hua Hin relies on conjectPM for document and plan logistics and communications as well as conjectCM for budget controlling and contract management to snesure smooth and successful operations of The Banyan Estate project.

"The benefit of the current economic climate is forcing the markets to reach a higher level of pxibility in today's modern way of working.”
(Bernard Jarjour, Managing Partner - The Business Real Estate)

In a challenging economic climate, real estate players must deliver the difference to customers to be able to ride through the tough times. Bernard Jarjour, explains his strategy for success.

The Business Real Estate is a "boutique" real estate agency based in Dubai and since its conception four years ago, the aim has been to deliver a special level of service to clients, so that at the end of their experience they leave as a guest. Bernard says that "this approach applies to all aspects of the business, we take over the stress of the process. We put ourselves in our guests' shoes and it seems to work."

During the past four years of operation, TBRE has seen many changes in the real estate landscape. As a relatively young sector, in the past, the market was driven to a large extent by the speculator and often left to regulate itself. The incredible returns on investments over the past years have suddenly ceased and in turn the confidence of the buyers. The leasing market is what is keeping the industry afloat at the moment and the challenges lay more in terms of sale deals, investors are still in a "wait-and see position".

Bernard believes that the present introduction of rules and regulations to structure the industry will help bring the buyer's confidence back. Examples of the measures taken are the introduction of RERA and the return of the residence visa for some property owners. "The market is maturing and the incredible return on investment achieved in recent years is going to become more rational yet sustainable. People's mindset will adjust to that", adds Bernard.

TBRE is an example in real estate best practice. It is RERA-registered and resolutely abides by the rules put in place by these institutions. Bernard states that "if all real estate players start to believe in and adhere to the proper processes, things will progress. They are a serious starting point.

So what is TBRE's strategy for success in these challenging times? "I think there are opportunities out there more than ever for those who dare to look for them. The strategy is to deliver the difference. This motto translates exactly what people are looking for more than ever. Someone who can pay attention to details and come up with the best deals and be proactive and this is what we are all about", Bernard Jarjour concludes.

To analyse the growth of the FM industrt in the past few years, we have to differentiate between the time before and after the so-called economic crisis. Two main factors make the FM sector essential to the real estate world: saving operational costs and retaining the value of real estate assets.

The industry growth before the economic crisis resulted in many companies starting their busin in the last 2 years. Most of these newly sprouted companies did not have the capabilities or experience in delivering true FM services; hence, the growth was mainly evident in the FM consulting and planning area.

Pre-crisis, there was no real interest in installing systems that lowered operational costs of real estate assets. The real estate industry stood to profit much more by selling, waiting and buying than trying to save on operational costs.

Post-crisis, the real estate companies as well as the owners and tenants are looking to save operational costs, coupled with a strong interest in preserving the value of the buildings.

FM Providers who can deliver the operational services as well as consultancy and planning are on their route to success. Delivering services for a fair price, in a competitive world of service providers, doesn't imply growth in profits for the FM companies. However, there are increasing opportunities to do business and all partners profits from that, because nobody knows exactly when the next economic turnaround will be.

Anyway, we do not expect a return to the "dream world" of former times in the UAE.

Ralf Zerenner, Managing Director - Berkeley Services Group